


Pierced Through the Heart

by geraldine



Category: Community (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-20
Updated: 2014-07-20
Packaged: 2018-02-09 16:38:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1990047
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/geraldine/pseuds/geraldine
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Post-Season 4. Jeff's graduated and the study group is moving on with their lives. Britta feels like there's something she's lost. Short one-shot.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pierced Through the Heart

Sometimes, Britta goes outside to listen to Pierce’s hologram speak. She sits on the steps and just listens to him repeat his little speech, over and over, until she realizes that she’s been there for an hour and she’s going to be late for work.

Ever since graduating, she’s felt like something’s been missing, and it took her a while to put her finger on what it was. She’d kept in contact with the rest of the study group; texting Annie about their new jobs, keeping up with Troy and Abed’s blogs, even going to Shirley’s sandwich place from time to time. Jeff was more distant, busy being a fancy lawyer again, she knew, though she’d met up with him once for drinks.

But that left Pierce. She hadn’t seen him. She had no idea what he was doing, or where he was, and it was like he vanished off the face of the earth. It was only when she read in the newspaper, in a tiny blurb on one of the last pages, that Pierce Hawthorne had given money to Greendale for a new building that she realized what that empty feeling in the pit of her stomach had meant this whole time.

The first time she saw his hologram, when she stopped by the campus to see this new building, for a split second she thought he was some kind of ghost. But no, it would make more sense for him to make Greendale use his money to make a hologram of himself so that all students could see him at any time. How vain. She thought she should be angry that he would waste his money so frivolously, but seeing him again (even if blue and transparent) made her smile.

Now she sits, looking up at his flickering blue face, knowing that she needs to leave. She’s gone back to Greendale about once a week and sat in the courtyard, sometimes eating her lunch, or reading a book, or just sitting and thinking. It’s so calming to be around him, even if it’s not really him, even if it’s just a recording that won’t listen when she talks or make weird comments. Actually, she doesn’t miss the weird comments that much, but she does miss any kind of actual interaction or banter.

She’s never told anyone else in the study group about this. She guesses they don’t even know that this hologram is here. Well, maybe Abed does. He seems to find out everything. But she knows Annie and Shirley would probably think it was weird for her to do this. Troy might understand, since he was probably closest to Pierce, but she feels like her relationship with Troy is still a bit strained since they stopped dating. Besides, he was bad at keeping secrets, and she didn’t want to face an intervention from Shirley and Annie.

Finally, she gets up to leave, knowing if she lingers any longer, she’ll definitely be late for work and probably get fired. She casts one wistful look back at Pierce, smiling sadly. Someday, she’ll find out where he went. Someday, they’ll see each other again. She holds this hope in her heart as she leaves the campus where they first met.

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this six months ago and recently found it again; I should have posted it here to begin with. Many thanks to my brother for the title because that was the only thing I was missing!


End file.
